Royal Oaks Houses Trade Hands for $1.1M

The houses are in Royal Oaks’ first three phases, with addresses on Royal Run, Royal View, Mistic Lake and Waterfront Oak drives. Seller Le’Ward Investments LLC acquired the properties between 2009 and this year.

SpringView financed its purchase with a $400,000 loan through Le’Ward.

The Royal Oaks development is north of Egypt Central Road between Bolen Huse Road and Singleton Parkway.

Mueller Q2 Net Income Drops on Slow Commercial Construction

The figures released Tuesday, June 24, are $4.4 million less, or 12 cents less per diluted share, than the second quarter of 2011.

Greg Christopher, CEO of the company that manufactures copper tubing and fittings as well as brass and copper alloy rod and aluminum and brass footings that are all used in home and commercial construction, attributed the drop to an “irregular pace” in commercial construction.

“The long awaited housing recovery may have begun. Mortgage rates are at historic lows, even as home prices have shown signs of firming,” Christopher said in a written statement. “Also in some markets, it has become cheaper to buy than to rent. However, commercial construction activity has recently been uneven after showing gains earlier in the year.”

Mueller also posted net sales for the second quarter of $594.1 million, down from second quarter 2011 sales of $652.9 million. Most of the $58.8 million difference was attributed to lower prices for copper and other raw materials that was reflected in Mueller’s selling price to customers. Copper prices dropped 61 cents a pound from the $4.16 a pound price a year ago.

– Bill Dries

Regions Financial Reports Second Quarter Profit

Regions Financial Corp. reported a second quarter profit Tuesday, July 24, of $284 million, or $0.20 per diluted share, driven by improvement in its core business performance.

Birmingham-based Regions has the second largest share of customer deposits in the Memphis area according to the most recent information from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Q2 income from continuing operations was $280 million, compared to $185 million in Q1. Regions reported net income of $4 million from discontinued operations, attributable to the gain on the sale of Morgan Keegan.

Mortgage revenue increased by $13 million, driven by new home purchases and refinance activity. Mortgage production for the quarter was $2.1 billion, a 28 percent increase from the prior quarter.

The company saw growth in lending to middle market commercial and industrial customers, in particular the specialized banking groups. Average loans in this category were up 4 percent compared to the prior quarter, and total commercial and industrial commitments grew $441 million. Commercial loan production (including renewals) totaled $11.6 billion, of which $4.3 billion were new loan originations.

Consumer loan production totaled $2.8 billion in Q2, an increase of 24 percent over last year.

– Andy Meek

UT Medical Group Names Woeppel COO

Charles “Chuck” Woeppel has been named chief operating officer of UT Medical Group Inc., a private group practice affiliated with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s College of Medicine faculty.

Woeppel brings more than 25 years of experience in managing academic and private practice physician groups and other health care organizations in Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, Texas, New York, Georgia and California.

Most recently, Woeppel worked as an independent consultant, providing strategic leadership to physician practices and health care organizations, primarily in New York and Texas.

Prior to that time, he served as CEO at St. Theresa Medical Complex in Louisiana, where his responsibilities included overseeing construction of a long-term acute care hospital and merging the previous facility with the new hospital.

During his tenure as executive director of Meharry Medical Group at Nashville’s Meharry Medical College, he led the group’s transition to a centralized practice plan. Woeppel also served as CEO at the University of Virginia Health Services Foundation, an academic group practice of more than 750 physicians.

A graduate of Canisius College in Buffalo, N.Y., Woeppel earned a master’s degree in health care administration from Xavier University. He’s a member of the Medical Group Management Association and the American College of Healthcare Administrators.

– Aisling Maki

Carpenter Joins City Hall as Mayor Wharton's Aide

Former Shelby County Commissioner Mike Carpenter is returning to Memphis as the head of the Wharton administration’s Office of Intergovernmental Relations.

Carpenter resigned from the Commission in September to become state director of the Nashville-based education reform group StudentsFirst.

Carpenter’s new job at City Hall will involve lobbying on the city’s behalf at the Tennessee legislature as well as in other venues. And Carpenter will also serve as project manager for the Harahan Bridge pedestrian and bicycle boardwalk project.

The project which recently won a $15 million federal grant is designed to improve Main Street as well as connect Main Street Memphis to Broadway Street in West Memphis, Ark., which is that city’s Main Street.

Carpenter fills the position held by TaJuan Stout Mitchell, who recently retired but under different terms.

Carpenter is working under a contract with the city in which he will not be a city employee and will not receive city benefits like health insurance or retirement benefits. His work on the Harahan Bridge project is through a similar contract with the Downtown Memphis Commission, which is the agency that will control the federal funding for the project.

When Mitchell announced her retirement, Wharton initially thought the city may be able to work without a full-time presence in Nashville during the legislative session.

Because the legislature usually adjourns for the year in June or July at the latest, the lobbyists for city and county governments have traditionally had duties in addition to working with members of the legislature. Past administrations have supplemented that as needed by hiring lobbying firms or consultants.

Carpenter was co-chairman of Wharton’s transition committee following Wharton’s election as Memphis mayor in 2009. He had also worked with Wharton when Wharton was Shelby County Mayor on the creation of the Shelby Farms Park Conservancy.

– Bill Dries

MAA Acquires Atlanta Apartment Community

Memphis-based MAA has acquired Allure at Brookwood, a 349-unit, high-end urban apartment community located in the Buckhead sub-market of Atlanta.

Developed in 2008, Allure at Brookwood consists of two six-story mid-rise buildings joined by a five-level structured parking deck. Property amenities include a resort-style pool with cascading fountains, a 50-meter lap pool, outdoor stone terrace with grill, a fitness facility and business center. Apartment homes have nine-foot-ceilings with deluxe crown molding, cherry cabinetry, arched doorways and stainless steel appliances.

Allure at Brookwood is located between several of Atlanta’s largest office submarkets including Midtown, Buckhead and Central Perimeter, which combined, total more than 50 million square feet of office space. The property is also close to several major medical employment centers within the Piedmont Medical Center, including nationally recognized rehabilitation center Shepherd Center.

Formerly known as Mid-America Apartment Communities, MAA is an apartment-only real estate investment trust (REIT) that currently owns or has ownership interest in 49,094 apartment units throughout the Sunbelt region of the U.S.